The bustling East Street in Yongding City was teeming with people at this moment.
Five stores lined up side by side had just unveiled the red cloths covering their signs, revealing the imposing plaques inside—"Glassware", "Blue - and - White Porcelain", "Cosmetics", "Furniture", and "Plush Toys".
These novel terms piqued the curiosity of passers - by, who stopped in their tracks and craned their necks to peek into the stores.
Normally, when a store in the city opened, it would rely on gongs and drums to attract people's attention.
But these stores were different. After the smiling owner removed the red cloths, he announced the official opening of the stores.
Hearing this, the crowd that had already gathered outside rushed in one after another.
"These must be the strange dowries of the third Miss Bai yesterday! Look at this mirror. How can it reflect people so clearly!"
"Mother, I want to buy this powder. It looks so good on my face!"
"This set of four glass treasures is quite rare. I'll take two sets. My two naughty sons at home will surely like them."
Song Yiqing was sitting on the second floor of the teahouse opposite the stores, watching the lively scene outside with a beaming smile.
He had to admit that Bai Zheng was a genius in business. Thanks to the grand wedding yesterday that had almost emptied the whole Yongding City, she had made a free and extremely successful publicity.
Not to mention those loyal customers who had waited for a whole day and night for the stores to open. Even those who just passed by the door were almost always attracted by the new things in the stores.
Once they stepped into these stores, regardless of age or gender, no one came out empty - handed.
The reason was that not only were the things sold in these stores novel, but Bai Zheng's pricing strategy was also very sophisticated.
There were small perfume samples that could be bought for ten wen, and there were also complete sets of furniture that cost as much as a thousand taels of silver.
Especially the membership system she set up was something the Song family had never heard of in all their years of business.
During the opening period, anyone who registered the corresponding information could become an ordinary member and enjoy a 5% discount on the tenth day of each month;
If they spent a total of one hundred taels of silver in these five stores during the opening period, they could register as a senior member and enjoy a 10% discount on all purchases at any time.
Not to mention all kinds of new - style activities like getting a ten - wen voucher for every one - tael silver spent.
With all these activities combined, people who were already tempted by these novel things couldn't stop buying.
The business of the stores suddenly boomed.
Song Yiqing fanned himself proudly. Watching the long queue of people waiting to pay in the store and the large crowd outside the door who couldn't get in and could only sigh in disappointment, he felt that he had found a powerful backer.
"Sir." Just as he was happily imagining himself drowning in a pile of money, a servant stepped forward and whispered, "The people have arrived at the West City Gate."
The smile on Song Yiqing's face immediately faded.
He almost forgot that besides the store opening, he had another important thing to do today.
He stood up abruptly, a cold glint flashing in his eyes: "Now that I've watched the excitement in the east, it's time to see the excitement in the west."
At the West City Gate at this moment, a woman in a light - blue plain dress with disheveled hair was being firmly held down on the ground, unable to move.
A young maid was kneeling in front of her, sobbing: "Madam... Madam..."
"Do you want to move aside by yourself, or should I have someone help you move?"
Song Yiqing strolled forward leisurely. He held his fan in front of his forehead to block the blinding sunlight and squinted at the young maid who was standing in front of the blue - dressed woman.
Hearing the voice, the maid suddenly turned her head.
It was Zisu.
The moment she saw Song Yiqing, hatred flashed in her eyes: "Do you really have to push my mistress to her death before you're satisfied!"
Song Yiqing smiled faintly: "Miss Zisu is indeed the capable maid beside Lady Chen. Your ability to slander others is truly better than your mistress. Your mistress should admit defeat if she loses a bet. How can you say that I'm forcing her?"
Zisu gritted her teeth: "My mistress is already so badly injured! You still want to force her to kneel all the way. Aren't you just trying to kill her!"
"I didn't send anyone to injure her." Song Yiqing shrugged. "Why are you blaming me?"
After saying that, he raised his hand high: "Push this lackey away."
Two tall and strong guards stepped forward, grabbed Zisu from either side, and carried her away.
Zisu was lifted into the air with her feet off the ground. No matter how she struggled, she couldn't break free. She immediately got angry and started scolding.
"Song Yiqing! My mistress is the legitimate second miss of the General's Mansion. Her maternal uncle's family is the Grand Tutor's Mansion, and her husband's family is the Duke Chen's Mansion. If you dare to use force against my mistress, you should think about whether you're qualified enough!"
Song Yiqing stuck out his little finger and scratched his ear. He casually glanced at the dying Bai Di and smiled: "Really? How come none of the General's Mansion, the Grand Tutor's Mansion, or the Duke's Mansion you mentioned came to save her?"
Zisu's face turned pale, and her eyes turned red. She stubbornly said: "They... they just haven't arrived yet. When they come, just you wait..."
As she spoke, her confidence faded, and in the end, her voice was filled with sobs.
Yesterday, she had obediently gone to the General's Mansion to ask for help according to Bai Di's instructions. But before she could even see Mrs. Zhao, she was driven out by Bai Nianyin, who came back later.
Watching the door of the General's Mansion close in front of her, Zisu's heart sank into an ice cellar.
Now Bai Di was no longer the once - glorious and high - ranking young miss. She was just a rat scurrying through the streets, shunned by everyone!
How could a little maid like her protect her?
"Madam..." Zisu slumped on the ground weakly, completely giving up struggling.
At this time, there were already quite a few passers - by at the West City Gate. Some of them were people who hadn't managed to squeeze into the new stores on East Street and were planning to go there tomorrow instead. They stopped on both sides to watch the show.
What had happened at the wedding banquet of the Marquis Dingyuan's Mansion yesterday had already spread throughout Yongding. As soon as they saw this, they knew what was going on and pointed at Zisu and Bai Di.
Bai Di had been seriously injured yesterday. Today, it was the people from the Duke Chen's Mansion who were afraid that Bai Di would renege on the bet and drag the whole Duke's Mansion down, so they force - fed her a bowl of ginseng soup to barely keep her alive.
Now kneeling by the roadside, Bai Di felt dizzy.
Hearing the scolding, she raised her head groggily.
Everyone had been whispering and cursing, but when they suddenly saw Bai Di's face, they were extremely shocked.
No one had expected that the rumored disfigured second Miss Bai would become so hideous. There were dense pustules on her face, and there was not a single good spot.
A young child let out a long "Eww" and said crisply: "This person looks so disgusting!"